E6: The Game Inside D&D (with PDFs!)

[Ry]

I'm not sure the person at RPG.net has the pdf - I can't post files to RPG.net

 

[Ry]

I'm thinking that I should divide the included E6 feats into "Basic" and "Capstone" feats. That should keep the number of feats at a minimum but still have some structure for what the purpose of the feats are.

 

[jjsheets]

Ryan, I have a question about the Skill Beyond Your Years feat listed back on page 2.

It seems a bit underpowered in comparison to say, Skill Focus. Not to mention that after acquiring it, you need to then get Open Minded in order to have the skill points to fill up the higher limit.

Seems to need some tweaking.

 

[The Souljourner]

The [stone to flesh] feat's been tossed around before; there's a few reasons it's the way it is.

1) The 18 INT requirement is because 18 INT casters don't get an extra 4th level spell.

I actually went to my PHB and back before I realized that you don't mean that 18 int doesn't give a 4th level spell slot, which of course it does. What you mean is, since by default no casters in E6 ever get 4th level spells, the bonus spell slot that 18 int does give, is totally wasted on E6 casters.

Sorry, I know it was obvious to you, but it was totally non-obvious to me at first, so I wanted it spelled out in case anyone missed the boat like I did

So, I agree it sucks that 18 in a stat gives a caster in E6 no benefit to spell slots. Not sure what to do about that. Wrapping the stat bonuses around more quickly might not be a terrible idea.

+1 1
+2 2
+3 3
+4 1 x2
+5 2 x2
+6 3 x2
+7 1 x3
...

where x2 is 2 extra spell slots. All levels are cumulative, so at +4 you actually have 3 bonus 1st level spells, a bonus 2nd, and a bonus 3rd.

I've always thought the spell slot bonuses for high stats were way too conservative anyway.

I know it's a departure from the simple "D&D until 6th, then feats every 5k", but it's not too bad. Plus, you assume there's not going to be nearly the inflation of stats in E6.

2) I put it in because there are legitimate CR enemies that have stone attacks, and DMs don't necessarily want those to be permanent. This was a way to say "Hey, you're turned to stone, but if the party can get you back to this powerful wizardly alchemist, and he can reverse it."

I still think it's ok to say that, but not have it be something PCs can do. NPCs can always do wacky stuff PCs can't, this could be one of them.

3) I made it a feat rather than a ritual or a plot point because I try to keep all my low-level tinkering with the rules at the feat level.

I think that's a good goal, and I agree that you don't want to tweak stuff too much, since then it stops being "D&D until 6th level" etc.

I just don't think any player I know would ever take that feat unless they were in a game where there were unusually consistent encounters with stone-turning enemies.

Anyway.... Not really that big of a deal, I was more just trying to figure out exact motivations and hopefully stimulate some thought.

 

[Ry]

I still think it's ok to say that, but not have it be something PCs can do. NPCs can always do wacky stuff PCs can't, this could be one of them.

Actually, I don't approach the game with stuff NPCs can do that the PCs can't, unless those NPCs are angels or gods or something. If there's a secret ritual or recipe that can reverse petrification, I think it's fair game to say that a PC could learn or discover it if it's out there to be learned or discovered. That's pretty consistent with 3e's approach overall. So whatever other changes are made to the feat (such as writing Special: The DM may require elaborate quest or research prerequisites before this feat can be learned.) I'm still planning on keeping the feat.

 

[rabindranath72]

Ryan,
nice work! I like the general idea of "trimming" the d20 system. I just used the 3.0 rules when they were published, and just for two campaigns. After that, I got really dissatisfied with the game: too unwieldy, too much number crunching. The only version of d20 I play these days is Call of Cthulhu d20, for which, incidentally, the conversion rules from the BRP system translate the topmost BRP character as a 7th level character. I like the feel of all this I might even give 3.0 a second chance, after all.

Cheers,
Antonio

 

[Ry]

Thanks rabindranath72 ! EN World in general has been very kind to me and E6. Has there been a fantasy campaign out there that you've thought about running but never tried? There's some people running some very cool variant E6 games:

Gestalt E6 Eberron
Psionics-only divine-flavored E6
Martial Classes + Call of Cthulhu magic Sword and very evil Sorcery

I think it's easier to adapt E6 than D&D to different styles because you have fewer assumptions to change (i.e. "Death is a pain, but disintegration's a bitch and a half" "What do you mean, you took a ship to cross the ocean? You know we're 10th level, right? Forget walking.") My current campaign is very political, for example.

 

[rabindranath72]

Well, I have the d20 Conan game, but it suffers from the usual d20 rule bloat. Perhaps I might "tweak" it and compress all into 6 levels.
Recently, I prepared a Conan game using Call of Cthulhu d20 (as you say, Sword and Very Evil Sorcery .) I have not played it yet, but I guess it would work fine.

Cheers,
Antonio

 

[rabindranath72]

I have a question: on pag. 10 of the pdf, how is the LA point buy system supposed to work? What does "Thus, +LA races should start with zero LA" means?

To advance an ability, one must essentially "buy" two feats (first ability training, then ability advancement)?

Thanks,
Antonio

 

[Ry]

I have a question: on pag. 10 of the pdf, how is the LA point buy system supposed to work? What does "Thus, +LA races should start with zero LA" means?

To advance an ability, one must essentially "buy" two feats (first ability training, then ability advancement)?

1. The suggestion is that if you want to have races with Level Adjustment (i.e. half-dragons, tieflings, aasimar, etc.) instead of changing the experience rules, you should change how many points they use in the initial ability point buy (i.e. don't roll stats, give the point buy per the DMG, but uber races get fewer points). It's not a perfect system, but it's by far the best one I've seen to balance Level Adjustment races in the lower levels.

2. Yes.